Thursday fantasy open thread: Which Lions-Bengals player will outperform their projections?

Maybe the Detroit Lions defense will not be as terrible as expected. This roster still has plenty of big holes, but the last three weeks have actually seen the defense keep its opponents to modest overall totals after a rough start to the year. This weekend is going to be a test, however.

The Cincinnati Bengals have not been putting up monster totals, but they have scored over 20 points in all but one of their games (17 against Chicago). This sort of consistency, stemming from playmakers across the offense, is not a good sign for the Lions. Reminder: the below scoring includes 6pt TDs and 0.5 PPR.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Which Lions-Bengals player will outperform their projections?

• Jared Goff (18.2 pts): 270 pass yd, 1.5 TD, 0.8 Int
• T.J. Hockenson (10.2 pts): 4.8 rec, 54 rec yd, 0.4 TD
• Joe Mixon (13.7 pts): 72 rush yd, 2.3 rec, 18 rec yd, 0.1 TD
• Ja’Marr Chase (14.5 pts): 5.1 rec, 78 rec yd, 0.7 TD

My answer: The first thing that jumps out are the projections for the Goff and Hockenson, both of whom have failed to impress as of late. While 18 fantasy points is fairly modest for a quarterback, this would be an above-average day against the Bengals this year. Meanwhile, Hockenson has just eight catches over the past three weeks and is due for a bounceback, but it might not come just yet.

Mixon is a frustrating fantasy player, but he should get his against the Lions. However, my attention is solely focused on Chase. After hilarious preseason overreactions, the stud rookie has wasted no time proving he is going to be a threat in the league for years to come. He probably does not even need five catches to beat this projection.

Your turn.